


Lessons in Friendship

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-06-07
Updated: 2009-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-16 03:43:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sabaku Gaara is the class loner and insomniac with dreadful, violent tendencies. Rock Lee is one of the first to stand up to him without fear. They become friends, and so much more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Lesson Interrupted

LESSON 1

A Lesson Interrupted

It was hopeless. These teachers wouldn't know a decent lesson from their own ass, and damn if Gaara were in the mood to listen in on this next half-baked lecture. Once the morning sun reared its ugly face over the trees, down went Gaara's head, and he slept.

The desks were about as comfortable as being punched in in the face, but if a desk was a punch in the face, then his bed at home was being run through by a thousand spikes. Sabaku Gaara was just one of those students that didn't sleep at night. He simply never slept at night. He saved his sleep for class. No matter what the teachers suggested (rather demanded, holy righteous bunch of bigots they could be) there was simply nothing Gaara could, or was willing, to do to correct this flaw. As far as he was concerned, he was just fine.

He couldn't be moved down to any of the lower classes, seeing as his grades were exceptional, well, maybe not his class participation grades, but he always handed in his homework, and his grades on tests and quizzes were always among the highest. That was to be expected from the brother of Sabaku Temari, said to be the first girl genius to graduate from Sarutobi Academy. She was the first female valedictorian, too! She smacked quite a good label on the school, especially for the ladies, but for the most part her youngest brother couldn't be bothered to follow in her footsteps.

Yuuhi Kurenai was the Math teacher for class 12-A. She was also most insistent on getting Gaara to rise from his slumber and become involved with the rest of the class, rather than wasting perfectly good grades because he was the least active when it came to in-class work. She had no clue what his problem was. He simply slept through his every class. He'd even admitted to attending class simply so he wouldn't be thrown out of school, and if you asked her, she'd tell you that it was a pretty sad excuse. Sad in that it was pathetic, but true. The boy obviously didn't sleep at night, but why was that? What could she do to change that?

Not letting him sleep in her class was a good start, but he slept like the dead. She tried shaking him, slamming a book upon his desk, and even going as far as to lift him by the collar of his shirt and stick him right in front of the white board! His cheek just slid on down the board until his body hit the floor, and even then he managed to stay asleep. None of Kurenai's methods worked thus far. None of the students would volunteer to sit beside him and keep him awake either, not since the incident with Dosu. In one attempt to keep Gaara awake, Dosu somehow ended up in the hospital. This was while Asuma, the Science teacher, was in charge of the class. He never went into any detail, but apparently it was bad. Gaara couldn't be penalized because he wasn't conscious at the time. He must have had a darn good lawyer to get away with that one. That was why most teachers and students didn't bother with him anymore, and allowed the sleeping to persist. The students didn't question or comment on it any longer, so it was obviously no hindrance to them. At least he didn't snore, the rest of the faculty reasoned.

There was just something inherently WRONG with allowing a student to just sit there and... and... SLEEP while she was trying to give a lecture, though. Then seeing all the wonderful grades he scored on tests and on his homework. It was fishy, but he appeared in no way to be cheating. No way could she figure out. She'd always eyed his body for notes and scribbles, but found none. She watched him especially to make sure his eyes didn't wander from the test of another student's paper in the room, not that that'd be easy, seeing as he sat right up front and near nobody. Not only was the seat next to him empty, but so were the two seats behind him. That spoke volumes for the amount of friends Gaara had.

It was just strange, and it made Kurenai uneasy. Poor little Hinata-who sat directly opposite of Gaara in the front row-struggled like you wouldn't believe. She also had a genius in her family, so Kurenai thought she and Gaara ought to have been in the same boat. Not in the slightest. Where Hinata bent over backwards to get scores her father wouldn't completely disown her for, Gaara did absolutely nothing and got better scores! Those kinds of natural geniuses belonged elsewhere, but Gaara wasn't heading anywhere with his class participation grades so low. It was like the abyss in an otherwise level plain of high scores. Something needed to be done about this.

"Gaara, please come up to the board and do this equation," she said, knowing that if she announced it to the class, she was somehow going to make it happen. It was her obligation as an educator and a body of power.

But she was only met with silence. Even the students were too tense to breathe, let alone speak. How could one measly little red-head invoke so much fear into an entire classroom?

"Gaara!"

"That's not going to work, sensei! He's pretty much dead right now," said Naruto with a chuckle. He was one of those class clowns in the back of the room that no one laughed with. An idiot, basically. Oh well, he did have a great smile and a great loud voice. She thought of placing him beside Gaara multiple times, but Asuma advised against it. The Dosu incident was still tugging on everyone's minds. Still, Naruto might just be brave (or dumb) enough.

No, because she'd hear it from Asuma later. Crap.

"Don't speak out of turn, Naruto. Would you like me to send you to the principal again?"

She heard him mutter something about hideous old hags, and boy would he get it if it were her he was talking about! He most likely meant Tsunade, though. She and he became real good acquaintances since his enrollment.

"I'll do the problem, Kurenai-sensei," said Sakura, the brightest bulb in the class. She'd have some competition against Gaara for top-of-the-class if he'd just wake up! There were times where she just up and let Sakura do it because it was quicker that way. This class fell behind often, because where it did have its share of intelligent students, it also had its share of morons. Not that Kurenai would ever admit that out loud. Still, she couldn't always have Sakura picking up the slack for her.

"Not today, Sakura, but thank you," said Kurenai with a smile. She then turned to Gaara, noticing that his shoulders were quivering the slightest bit. Well, the weather was getting a bit brisk, and he sat beside the open window. He must have been cold.

Ah-ha! The change in temperature may rouse him. Okay, maybe not, but it was worth a shot. She shut the window, happy that it made the most ear-splitting squeak on the way down. Most of the students were groaning and clutching their ears. Chouji even fell out of his chair, making the floor tremble with his colossal weight. Perfect. Excellent. They really ought to replace those windows sometime, but not as long as Gaara was sitting in her class. There's no way he could have slept through that.

For a moment, she thought she was right! His shoulders were squirming all right, as was his head. By golly she would get him to drag his ass off that chair for ONE MEASLY quadratic equation! Then it'd be safe to say that he had participated at least once. She could see herself bragging about it in the teacher's lounge already.

After a few moments he'd risen a bit, and he was groaning. It wasn't a kind of "what the hell was THAT!" groan, but rather one that was far away, distressed. The groaning became louder, loud enough to catch the eyes of the whole class. He then clutched the right side of his face and screamed. A few of the students got up and ran to the back of the room, but Kurenai thought nothing of it. Her hands were clutching each of his shoulders, and she began to shake him. He stopped screaming for a moment, pressed his fingers harder into the fringe of his bright, red hair, and screamed even louder. He was leaning into her shoulder this time, and when rubbing his back to comfort him wasn't working out, she shoved him back and slapped the hysterical boy across the face as hard as she could. That, and the chorus of gasps from all over the room, did it.

His black-rimmed eyes cracked and blinked their way open, and she thought that no hung-over drunkard in the world could possibly match eyes so perfectly bloodshot. They were so red you almost couldn't see any traces of white, and it clashed horribly with the sea green color of his irises. This boy wasn't lazy, he was sick. He needed help immediately.

"Let go of me," said Gaara in his quiet, albeit firm voice. He had that power about him, and Kurenai did exactly that. She was no longer looking at an under-motivated boy bursting with potential, but someone who was horribly, horribly ill. If only she'd let him be, if...

No, she did the right thing. Now the question was what to do about this?

"Gaara... are feeling all right?"

"Fine, except for a headache. You should have let me sleep," he said, devilish eyes narrowing with a complimentary frown.

"Why were you screaming?" asked Kurenai, deciding there was no use in beating around the bush. She had a class to teach, and damn if she wasn't going to teach it! They had a test scheduled for next week, and falling behind wouldn't be fair for anyone, most especially for students like Hinata, who struggled in her little corner, and Sakura, who sat attentive, albeit bored and exasperated in the back of the room. Hopefully this was just some prank, and she could send Gaara off to Tsunade to get a good vocal lashing.

She had a hunch it wasn't going to be that simple, though.

"Screaming?" Gaara asked.

"You were screaming at the top of your lungs. You're telling me you don't remember that?" said Kurenai, her worry growing exponentially by the minute.

Gaara said nothing, choosing to stare at her as if she had a fist-sized wart growing on the side of her face. He was like that, ever so secretive. Counselors, advisers, and the like have never been able to get through to him, which is why every teacher in Class 12-A just didn't bother with him anymore. That wasn't right. Teachers should never give up on their students! It appeared Gaara could learn and comprehend all of the material, but there was a deep problem that slept in there as he slept in class. She wouldn't be doing her job if she didn't do absolutely everything she could for him.

"Would you like to go to the infirmary, Gaara?"

He just shrugged and stood, heading toward the door all by himself. It was more like dragging himself, which lead her to think that he was going to faint on his way there. She couldn't leave this class even for a second, not with clowns like Naruto who liked to carve obscenities into desks and hide her lesson plans in the cheap ceiling tiles, but she couldn't let Gaara go alone.

"Wait," she said. Gaara's hand had just reached the door handle. He had "make it quick" written all over his face. She was sorely tempted to slap him again just for being a jerk, but that conduct wasn't professional. The slap from earlier was a tap dance on thin ice as it was, but Tsunade would have done the same, so she wasn't too worried.

"Would someone please assist Gaara on his way to the infirmary?"

"Don't need it," said Gaara. No one seemed to argue with that, so he threw the door open and walked out.

Just then, one brave soul spoke up. "I'll catch up with him, Kurenai-sensei!" shouted Rock Lee from the back most corner of the room all of a sudden. Every set of eyes in the room met him with awe, especially hers. It was like the heavens went and plopped a whole new student into her class. From the way it looked, Lee was terribly unpopular, and usually spent his time in back where he couldn't really be seen, taking good notes and doing the best he could on the material. Basically, the exact opposite of Gaara.

He was a student of less than average skill in mathematics, and yet he had done exceptionally well in other subjects. He was one of the only three students his age still crawling through this particular math level, and he wasn't enthusiastic about this subject, whereas his other teachers made him out to be that one hyper-goal oriented kid who couldn't shut up. Gai-sensei, the Public Speaking teacher, even claimed that Lee was the most splendid student that had ever been his fortune to know, and obviously the feeling was mutual. Lee sported the same hideous bowl cut as his sensei, and kids all over snickered at him, but that didn't seem to bug him in the slightest. He was an odd child, that Lee.

This one burst of enthusiasm, this one commitment, made Kurenai open her eyes to him for the first time. It couldn't have come at a better time, either.

"Thank you, Lee."

\---

"The infirmary isn't that way," said Lee, stopping Gaara in his tracks. The two of them stood in silence on opposite ends of the hall for a few moments, and then Gaara just kept heading forward in the direction he was going. This wasn't the kind of treatment Lee found tolerable. After all, Kurenai-sensei did her best to get the best out of all of her students, and Lee, in turn, always did his best for her, although his best wasn't nearly as good as he'd like for it to be. Ohh, if he couldn't study quadratic equations for four hours this evening, he'd do two hundred laps around the block in his underpants. The tightest pair of briefs he owned, to boot!

But first, his first favor and obligation to Kurenai-sensei was to lead Gaara to the infirmary. Maybe Gaara simply didn't know where it was and was weary of accepting help from others. Maybe he had to use the bathroom first. Maybe...

"Quit following me," Gaara said, and headed for the staircase. Now, everyone had to have known that the infirmary was on the main floor, if nothing else. Gaara was heading up stairs, and Lee was still hot on his tail. He wasn't going to let this go until his classmate was safely in the hands of the nurses.

Lee made a dash up the stairwell and placed himself in front of Gaara, arms spread and eyes firm. That's as far as he would go, if Lee could help it. This seemed like a fairly simple case, though. Gaara may have looked fierce. He may have even shown that horrible bully Dosu what's what in an unconscious state. But looks weren't everything, and neither was putting petty bullies in their place. Lee wasn't going to lose to this guy.

"Kurenai-sensei wants you to go to the infirmary. You're going in the wrong direction."

"I'm not going to the infirmary," said Gaara, as if it were a simple fact of life. His expression was so indifferent it was almost as if Lee were speaking to a statue. Gaara attempted to walk past Lee, but he was continuously blocked off. Was this guy for real?

"You're going," said Lee, another simple fact of life. Well, that sunk that expressionless demeanor into one of clear, unadulterated annoyance. Gaara pushed himself forward, underneath Lee's outstretched arm and made it to the top of that flight of stairs. Before he could attempt the next, Lee had him by the arm, and forced Gaara to turn and look at him.

If that's how it was going to be, thought Gaara clutching his fist, then maybe this guy needed to be taught a lesson. He aimed for the ugly kid's nose with his best punch and hoped to be on his way from there.

To Gaara's surprise, Lee was able to block his punch with practiced ease. His eyes quivered in a momentary fit of shock, then melted back into that cold gaze he normally held. Lee had caught a glimpse or two of this boy throughout the school year. They'd been classmates for about a month now. In paying very close attention to Kurenai-sensei and her admirable efforts at keeping Math interesting and productive, Lee had come to know Gaara, rather, what he was like during class. This wasn't the first day Kurenai-sensei tried to rouse Gaara from sleep in an effort to get him to work, but it was the first day she had successfully awoken him. What a horrible, tortured scream, too, almost as if someone were trying to kill him. Any teacher ought to be worried sick after such a display, which was why he wasn't going to fail. He was getting Gaara to the infirmary no matter what. Heck, if that was his best punch then Lee wasn't going to have any problems.

"How did you...?"

"Follow me to the infirmary and I'll tell you," said Lee, grinning. Oh, Gai-sensei would be so proud of him, arranging such clever schemes, helping a classmate in need. He couldn't wait to tell him all about it, and tell Gaara all about...

"Forget it," said Gaara, ruining his moment of glee before it could even start. "And let go of my hand."

"Forget it," said Lee, mimicking Gaara in an effort to bring him down. In order to succeed, he would have to stay on top here. He was a man on a mission! "I may have to drag you to the infirmary this way, and will if you make me resort to that."

"What I do is none of your concern, bowl cut. Don't make me hurt you."

"You won't." Lee still had one wrist in one hand, and a clenched fist in another. Both had Gaara's fists in a grip that the smaller boy wasn't going to be able to wrench himself from. He would struggle, but was too exhausted to think anymore. Right about now he'd be lying on the roof, sleeping the rest of Math away. Science would be next, and Asuma-sensei wouldn't bother with him at all. Not after Dosu, whom he'd apparently marred in some way. Gaara wished he could have remembered it. He hated that kid.

One attempt to yank himself from Lee's clenched fists lead to him being propelled forward into the other boy's chest. It must have been made of steel or something, because Gaara had a huge nose bleed afterward. Fine, so much for sleep. Going to the infirmary because of a nose bleed would garner far less questions than another sleeping incident. He agreed to go with Lee, on the condition that he left the moment they got there. Lee offered him a hanky for the nose bleed and told him to feel better.

Once Lee was out of sight, Gaara eyed the direction toward the stairwell, but walked into the infirmary anyway. An agreement was an agreement, so whatever.

Still, Gaara was now aware of that bowl cut kid who sat in back of the class. A kid he would have otherwise overlooked if he had not initiated an argument with Sabaku Gaara.

Not just initiated it, but won it! The nurses were calling his sister to come pick him up as he mulled over this. She wouldn't be too happy about that. She was likely trying to recover from some 50-page term paper she was bitching about earlier in the month. Somehow, word got to them that this wasn't just a matter of walking into a door and getting a nose bleed, but another sleep-related problem, or maybe they could just see it in his eyes. It was why he hadn't wanted to come here. His attendance was poor, and his participation (or lack thereof) was astounding. He couldn't afford to be sent home again because he'd fallen asleep.

Bowl cut was going to pay for this somehow.


	2. A Cause for Hope

A Cause for Hope

"Gaara, I'm getting really sick of this," said Temari. There was never a hello exchanged between them, and there were no words spoken to the nurses, the administration, or even old teachers of hers that spotted her in awe. Their prized genius never did return to Sarutobi High out of nostalgia, but only to drag her miserable little brother home. In their eyes, he was clearly unworthy of sharing the same blood and potential as her, given his lackluster performance and will-power. I mean, he produced good, oftentimes excellent test results, but he just didn't seem to notice, or even care. Instead of being the second genius of the Sabaku line, he was the careless dud, the false alarm, somebody who strived to be nobody.

Gaara knew that was what all of his teachers saw in him, and he hadn't the energy to invest in caring what they thought. They were right about one thing. Perhaps he had no future. Perhaps he merely existed to waste space like every other bag of flesh he shared oxygen with. If that's what he was meant to do, then why the hell shouldn't he get to sleep during class? According to biology normal human-beings were diurnal creatures. Could have fooled him; however, he needed to sleep at some point, and class was good for that. During class, he didn't miss anything.

Sarutobi High didn't offer night school, but he thought it ought to. Maybe he could do more than shut down in such a case. He'd been a night owl for as long as he could remember. An insomniac to boot! School was only so long, and only about five hours of it was covered by actual lectures. The rest of it was lunch, study halls, and gym. Not that Gaara ever did much during those periods either, but he didn't sleep, couldn't rather. Those were all the times he moved around, or did his homework. His schedule worked just fine for him; he didn't even need class. If he knew and understood the material, why bother him? How come no one was on his side about this?

"You ought to consider what I've been thinking," said Temari, halfway through the drive home. Gaara just sat in the passenger seat, glaring out at the road as hard as he could with his arms crossed. He was listening, but he wished he wasn't. "I've got a few bucks saved up. Why don't we use that to get your little sleep issues corrected professionally?"

"No," said Gaara.

"I thought you'd say that," she said, giving in none too kindly. She brought this up as if it were a whole new concept, though it really wasn't. There was a reason why Gaara didn't want to be put back into therapy, and it was a very simple one. Therapy wouldn't help because he would invest no energy into making it work. He wasn't going to let his sister pull magic money out of thin air to correct a supposed problem that didn't need correction. His body was what dictated when he did and didn't sleep, not some money-leeching quack with an alleged Ph.D.

"Still," Temari went on. "To just be sleeping one minute, but to wake up screaming the next? The nurses could hear you all the way from the infirmary, you know. They almost called the police."

"Almost doesn't count," said Gaara, slouching even further into his seat. Damn seat belt, always getting in the way of all comfortable sitting positions.

Lucky for him, Temari brought a few bucks with her. The two of them came across the first fast food place they could find and stopped for lunch. As they stared and poked at their mutual order of chicken nuggets and fries, Temari decided to pursue her former argument even more.

"You don't think sleeping through school is weird?" said Temari.

"Not for me," said Gaara, taking a sip of soda. He was a little annoyed that she wanted to press this issue further, knowing damn well he wasn't going to yield to her request. Well, he had ended up listening to Bowl Cut in the end, but that was only because of the nose bleed. The sight of blood triggered very bad things inside of him.

Temari sighed. Well, that was that. She should have known better than to have this argument with Gaara again. It was difficult being the big sister of one of the world's most difficult people to argue with, even more difficult to show that she cared about him. On one hand, she thought he ought to be placed back in therapy. She was in school on scholarship, so she was willing dish out a chunk of the small fortune she'd been saving up for Gaara's sake. She'd find him someone so much better than their cheap ass father had.

On the other hand, Gaara was perfectly content to remain the way he was. He had so much in store for him, and all he wanted to do was mope around and do it his way. She and their brother Kankurou had tried being creative. They've tried slipping him sleeping pills during the evening. They've tried offering him warm milk (which he wouldn't drink because he hated milk) and bath salts (which he wouldn't use because he preferred two minute showers.) They've tried playing classical music in random, various rooms near his bedroom. You know, everything, but the fact of the matter was Gaara never slept at night like a normal person. Temari and Kankurou were the only people who knew what could have been the cause for it. Her eyes suddenly went downcast. Now would be a bad time to bring that up. Then again, it was always a bad time.

So she decided to tackle the issue at a different angle. "How'd you get the nose bleed?" said Temari.

"I walked into a door," said Gaara.

"You couldn't have picked a more generic lie if you tried."

Gaara frowned. He hated having conversations with his sister. Since she became the adult authority of the house, she took on this mother goose role. Well, all right, Temari was in no way motherly. The woman was the very stereotype of a college student, actually. She could solve a series of interconnected equations in her head at the drop of a hat, but damn if the woman could cook, or do her own laundry. Figures, the only motherly traits she bothered to adopt were the useless ones, such as nagging and prying. To say the least, Gaara wished she'd just shut up.

"I was forced to go to the infirmary," he said. Well, that got one of her eyebrows up. Oh great.

"This I've got to hear!"

Gaara and Temari arrived home shortly after lunch time. It took a significant amount of goading and the promise of ice cream to get him to come clean, but Temari managed to drag the short version of the Rock Lee story out of Gaara. He refused to mention anything about the classroom other that being "unreasonably thrown out" as he put it. Beyond that he mentioned some ugly kid stopping him in the hallway, dead set on making Gaara succumb to his will (when he put it that way Gaara made it sound like that Lee kid was trying to rape him.) When Gaara refused, the two of them got into a fight, resulting in Gaara's bloody nose.

Being a supposed clone of Gai-sensei aside, Temari rather admired Lee for standing up to Gaara. There were little people in the world anymore that even bothered, which worried Temari quite a bit. He wasn't a bad kid in the slightest despite the tough front he put up. Then suddenly some dork named Lee came out of nowhere and took over, and she could tell that it had gotten under her youngest brother's skin. Gaara was a total control-freak, which was part of why he never slept at night. Little did he know, or care, that his poor habits were destroying his body, his personality, his life. All anyone who gave half a darn about him could do was sit back and watch it happen. Temari would sooner go bankrupt to get in touch with the best therapist in town than watch her brother spiral into an early death.

He just didn't understand that, though. For all that Temari was a genius who made end's meet at an Ivy League college, she just couldn't figure out what to do about her brother. It seemed so hopeless, yet she just couldn't give up on him. She'd think of something, no matter what.

"Rock Lee, huh?" she murmured to her homework. It wasn't getting done just by sitting there worrying about her brother yet again, but this was her environment to sit and figure out tough problems. Calculus didn't stand a chance against her, nor did Quantum Physics; however, the day she figured out what to do about Gaara would mark the day she could officially solve every problem in the universe. She had yet to find the missing figure that'd guide her toward the answer, but she had a small hunch about Lee.

Maybe, maybe instead of exacting revenge, maybe Temari could somehow convince Gaara to become friends with the kid that stood up to him, rather than making him his enemy. It was definitely worth a shot. If nothing else, Temari could at least have more faith in the fact that she hadn't quite given up on Gaara yet.

"Friends?" said Gaara over a cup of ramen. Gaara had been plotting ways to get back at Lee throughout the day, and Kankurou had been helping. Of all the nerve! They often had discussions over a few rounds of playing the Nintendo Wii, most of which took place past midnight while Temari was dead asleep. Today Gaara was able to catch Kankurou before he went off to school, and if Temari had to guess she'd say Gaara gave Kankurou an even shorter version of the Rock Lee story. Somewhere along the lines of "This asshole busted me today. What should I do about it?" Filling his locker with buckets of purple paint, or slipping a laxative into his lunch were all the sorts of things Kankurou would do. He was the more mischievous one, where Gaara was more direct. He seemed to consider Kankurou's suggestions, but didn't really plan on carrying them out. After all, Lee was probably the butt of most practical jokes, so contributing to that wouldn't be anything special.

No, Gaara wanted Lee to suffer. He wanted Lee to think long and hard before meddling in the affairs of others again, especially those of Sabaku Gaara! Temari suggesting that they become friends was almost laughable, but Gaara wasn't the laughing type. Surely Temari was just joking. Gaara didn't have friends. Everyone in the world was scum to him, except maybe Temari and Kankurou if they weren't being annoying and meddlesome, which was almost never. He wished his siblings would just be siblings, rather than parents.

"Yes, Gaara, I know it sounds weird, but what have you got to lose by making a new friend?" said Temari. Gaara considered, there was nothing he could lose by making a friend per se, but he was just better off alone. Nobody liked him, and he liked nobody. That was the natural balance of the world around him and that's the way that it needed to stay. A "friend" would just get in his way.

"Nothing much. Just time, focus, dignity... "

Temari wanted to smash her head through the table. Did he not get that those were exactly what he was missing in his life?

"No offense, but there's nothing dignified about sleeping through class," said Temari, having lost her appetite at that point. She needed to learn to cook, because living off of Pepsi and ramen was really doing a number on her figure, and her energy. The three of them lived with their uncle Baki up until Temari graduated from high school. Since then she had moved out, and Kankurou followed in order to help her pay for the apartment. It took all of one week for Gaara to follow, too, claiming that the old house was "stifling" and that Baki was annoying, when really the man hardly spoke to them when he didn't need to. The truth was that the old house held too many haunting memories, most of which kept Gaara awake at night every night, and Temari didn't hesitate to let Gaara join them. Sometimes rent was tricky, because Gaara couldn't hold down a job, and Kankurou was paying off student loans. Somehow they managed, and Temari had a few bucks to spare, knowing a thing or two about budgeting.

She was getting real tempted to send Gaara back to Baki, though. He wasn't applying himself in school, when he could really be just as good a student as she was. There was nothing he was willing to do about his insomnia, and his attitude just plain sucked. Temari would have been rid of him long ago if she didn't, well, love him. Sometimes he really tested how far that love went though.

She sighed. Maybe it was for his own good. He'd already lost one battle today. It'd be best to hit him now while he was still down, dirty as it sounded. "Gaara."

"Don't even," said Gaara, getting ready to chuck the rest of his ramen in her face. Oh, God help him if he even tried it. Temari's patience threshold was reserved specifically for Gaara, which was why she was liable to snap at the drop of a hat in any other field, such as school work, dating, and even grocery shopping. She punched a mother of two out cold right in the middle of the grocery store once just to get the last box of microwaveable blueberry pancakes once.

Otherwise, with Gaara, her threshold for patience was darn near infinite. Near wasn't close enough, though. He was pushing all of her wrong buttons faster than her best friend Tayuya could beat her at game of DDR. It was now or never, seeing as her nerve was at its max in the moment just before she lost her cool.

"Gaara, you have three choices: Sleep tonight, make friends with that Lee kid tomorrow, or move the fuck out of my apartment," she said, grinding that last part out through her teeth. She had never threatened to throw him out before, afraid that he'd agree all too easily despite being the one who asked to move in the first place. She loved him almost more than she cared to know, but she also couldn't stand what he was doing to himself. Personally she'd rather he be a hit man for the mafia, or a crack addict rather than what he was now. She honestly thought it'd be an improvement; however, she never dared say that out loud in fear that it may come true, and turn out to be worse than she expected. She didn't want to think of Gaara getting any worse. He was bad enough.

"You think that petty threat's going to work on me?" he said, having considered her words very carefully. She wasn't going to back down so easily, though.

"Petty threat?" she said, snatching his cup ramen out of his hand before he could finish it, finishing it off herself. She needed the energy more than he did. Thanks to him, she'd fallen slightly behind on her work. "How petty's it going to be when you come home from school tomorrow just to find all your stuff and uncle Baki standing outside the apartment?"

Gaara was silent for a few minutes, scowling at her as if his sister were the scum of the world. He would just have to get used to that fact that this was Temari's apartment, and thus he would have to abide by her rules, whether he liked it or not.

"Give me the night to consider it," said Gaara, taking his leave of the kitchen. It was hard to believe, but somehow Temari had won this one. She got her brother to listen to her. It must have been some kind of miracle to get him to stoop so low, as he'd put it. With this, he was already in the process of improving himself.

It wouldn't take brain surgery to figure out which of the options Gaara would choose. He'd do anything to stay away from the old house for personal reasons, not that Temari would want him going back there. That, above all else, would stunt his growth, so much so that even he wouldn't be able to stand it. Even if he tried he probably wouldn't get to sleep. After all, sleeping pills and the like did nothing for him, and this was the only time of day he had for himself. It didn't help that he didn't have a bedroom. He kept his clothing stashed in Kankurou's bedroom, but that was about it. He'd left his bed, and basically all of his other possessions back at the old house. Kankurou liked this arrangement, knowing that in the case that Gaara did sleep he'd be sharing a room with him, which just wouldn't work. Both boys needed their space.

So, Temari figured, Gaara would be making a new friend pretty soon. She was looking forward to meeting Lee. Maybe not in the condition the apartment was in, no, but nonetheless, Temari wanted to shake the hand of the first boy to ever truly get to Gaara.

\---

As usual, the history teacher was about ten minutes late to class. Usually Gaara would have been long asleep by then, but he had an uneasy feeling. This morning he had chosen-just to get Temari off his back-to make amends with Lee. He hadn't agreed upon friendship, but all thoughts of revenge were officially disregarded. This would require talking to Lee eventually, and to do so he couldn't let his classmate slip out of the room on break before Gaara could catch up. In other words, Gaara couldn't sleep until he got a hold of Lee. That really sucked, because Gaara could barely focus. He always felt cold and disoriented this time of day (not to mention bored), which was why he slept.

"Sorry, sorry," he heard Kakashi say as he entered the room. He often missed this lame little routine. Not that it mattered because it was always the same. "I got stuck in a conference that took forever and..."

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura boomed out at the same time, and the rest of the class just groaned. Everybody hated history class. What's more, everyone hated their teacher's lame excuses. They got more and more ridiculous every single day. A conference may have seemed like a reasonable excuse for any other teacher, but Kakashi was just full of it. Nobody believed a word he said anymore.

Precisely the reason Gaara slept most soundly through this class. Of all the teachers, Kakashi bothered him the least, making him Gaara's favorite in a way. He was the teacher Gaara hated the least because he was the one that cared for him the least, which was just great by him. The last thing he needed was the school on his back about how he decided to carry himself, as if Temari weren't bad enough. At least Temari put food into his stomach and a roof over his head. These teachers didn't offer anything of remote use to him, and thus he wouldn't become a slave to their will.

Not all things were within his control, though.

"First order of business," said Kakashi, flipping through his lesson plan. Gaara was only half-listening, but listening nonetheless. It gave him something other than sleep to focus on, not that Kakashi would teach him anything he didn't already know. Gaara was a sponge for historical trivia, and was one of the few people in the world who held his ground in a game of Trivial Pursuit against his sister. He just dared Kakashi to say something that surprised him today. "Ah, yes. The other teachers and I were discussing seat changes."

The entire class groaned, except for Gaara. He couldn't have cared less because it wouldn't affect him. He stayed in the same seat since his freshman year of high school, and the one time the teachers suggested he move in back, one cold glare from him was all it took to change his teacher's mind. Sure, he may have just sat there and did absolutely nothing, but he knew what he liked, and he liked his seat in front. It was easier to ignore the existence of the rest of the class that way.

For once, though, Gaara picked his head up and focused on what was going on, just because he was falling asleep. Dodging the bullet that was Temari's nagging was all that was keeping his eyelids from clamping shut.

"Hinata, I would like you to switch places with Shino," said Kakashi. His initial choice wasn't a very interesting one at first, but when she noticed the boy placed beside her new seat three rows back, her face became beet red. Uzumaki Naruto, resident loud mouth and idiot. He lived in the same apartment complex as Gaara and his siblings, but Gaara couldn't say that he cared. The sporadic blond often tried to strike up conversations with Gaara, as though the two of them were friends. If he was feeling generous, Gaara would spare the kid's dignity and pretend to listen to the nonsense that he often spewed. He often wasn't in a generous mood, though.

By chance, though, Gaara seemed to recall Naruto ranting about girls not liking him, or some stupid crap like that. Well, with the way that Hinata girl was blushing around him that must be subject to change. Good riddance. If Naruto had a girlfriend then he'd probably be out of Gaara's hair forever.

Gaara wasn't known for being the world's luckiest boy, though.

"Kiba, I want you to take the seat beside Hinata. And Naruto, I want you in the empty seat directly behind Gaara."

He just had to dare Kakashi to say something surprising today. Gaara had to suppress a miserable groan. He'd never sleep in class again with Uzumaki's chattering directly behind him. That was, unless he could get away with inflicting some form of violence on the boy. He got out of the Dosu incident by the skin of his teeth, though, thanks to Temari. There would be no such luck this time, so Gaara's only option was to bear the torment.

"Oh, come on, sensei! I like this seat!" he yelled, and if Hinata blushed any harder her head would probably explode. Gaara doubted she was the reason why Naruto enjoyed that seat. He noticed that it was the seat right beside the paper towel dispenser, and this crazy kid was renowned for his spit ball wars. Nara Shikamaru sat right in front of Naruto, and was the perfect target for the prankster's wrath. That Nara kid was just like Gaara in that he was always sleepy during class, but instead of not doing anything, he did things with a significant amount of complaining. Judging by the lack of eye baggage, Nara was no insomniac, but possibly a hypersomniac. Beside him was some chick named Ino. Gaara didn't know much about her, and quite frankly he never wanted to. She talked too much.

"Get out of my seat, ya dork," said Kiba, giving Naruto a playful punch on the shoulder. Inuzuka Kiba, the dog kid. He was the one who always came to class smelling like a wet barn, and apparently his family owned a barn where they raised dogs. Gaara may not have known that if Kiba hadn't been in every single one of his classes since they were knee-high little ones. One year Kiba'd brought his favorite puppy Akamaru to class for Pet Day, and won all kinds of awards for a pet well trained and treated; Gaara brought a dead raccoon. Needless to say, that day hadn't blown over too well for him. It was a wonder he hadn't been shipped off to a mental hospital by now. He'd been such a morbid kid back in the day.

Naruto dragged himself over to the vacant seat behind Gaara, and the insomniac ignored the one pat on the shoulder he received from his obnoxious non-friend. This semester was going to be a long one, which was a shame because Gaara was looking forward to graduating. That was, until Temari forced him off to college like she'd forced Kankurou. At least then he could attend classes at night and be more alert for the day.

Until then, school would be nothing short of hell, especially if he couldn't get his sleep in.

Kakashi cleared his throat and proceeded to reseat the rest of his class. "All right, Sakura, I want you to take the seat next to Naruto."

"Yes," Gaara heard Naruto whoop right behind him. When he thought he wanted Naruto to find himself a girlfriend, Gaara didn't mean for him to start a budding romance directly behind him. It also didn't help that Sakura answered more questions than the rest of the class combined. His semester had just become even longer now.

"I refuse!" said Sakura, slapping her palm against the plywood top of her desk. All the air had been sucked out of the room in one violent swoop, and her sea green eyes were practically on fire. Everyone was dumbfounded by the fact that Sakura of all people talked back to a teacher. She was the central ass-kisser and all. "I'd... I'd sooner sit next to Ino-pig than to sit next to that idiot Naruto!"

"And what's that supposed to mean, forehead-girl!" said Ino, standing straight-backed and glaring at the pink-haired brains of the class. Gaara didn't know their story, but apparently they hated each other. That was more about Ino than Gaara cared to know, really.

The class morphed into a tidal wave of murmurs, gossip, and confused chattering, at least until security was called. You see, Kakashi was too cool to yell at his own class, so when things got out of hand, he pushed a little button on the wall to summon one of the school's officers.

"What seems to be the problem, Kakashi-san?" said Officer Yamato, walking through the door in his navy blue security coat. Some of the commotion had settled upon the arrival of security, but Sakura and Ino were still bickering at each other from across the room, Shikamaru was getting ticked at Ino for making his ear drums bleed, Chouji was eating at a no-eating time, and Rock Lee was admiring his reflection in a pocket-sized mirror. Kakashi pulled reading material that was hardly appropriate for children from his rear pocket and speed-read through it while Yamato worked his magic.

"Them," said Kakashi, to answer Yamato's question.

"Is that so?" said Yamato, and then his attentions were turned toward the class. You see, he wasn't the most intimidating of officers at first glance. Heck, the guy could be downright friendly at times. When he was presented with a group of rambunctious adolescents, though, things got scary.

Specifically, his face got scary, like it had been pulled from the most horrible of horror books. His gaze averted toward the loudest source especially, but he made a point to send chills up the spines of everyone.

"I can be your best friend, if you just do what your teacher says," said Yamato, and then his face became really dark and horrific. One of the students even soiled himself. "Or I can be your worst nightmare, especially for you two." His pointed at Ino and Sakura. Usually nothing could break those two apart once they started a verbal go, but Officer Yamato was a force to be reckoned with. Ino sat right down and buried her face in her out-dated history text book, whereas Sakura gathered all of her belongings and took the seat next to Naruto, shaking as though a storm were passing through her body. Frankly she was amazed that she hadn't dropped anything on the way to her new seat.

"That'll be all, Yamato. Thank you," said Kakashi, dismissing a most frightfully efficient officer. He'd have to make a note of that Yamato for Kurenai-sensei, seeing as she was totally bent on trying to get Gaara to stay awake during class. Unfortunately Gaara wasn't the least bit intimidated by it. He had seen worse in a PMSing Temari, or Lee's eyebrows. That was probably the thing Gaara hated most about Lee. That brought back a few memories of kids giggling at Gaara for having a huge head and brows that were practically invisible. Yeah, Timmy must have been blind for a week, given the amount of sand Gaara had thrown into his eyes for being a jerk.

"Assuming there will be no more complaints about the new seating arrangements," said Kakashi, satisfied with the various gulps coming from all sides of the room. "I will continue. Arale, I would like you to…"

Gaara zoned out a bit, deciding that the fun was over. He'd have two noisy people sitting behind him, bound to yammer and bicker. It would just take mad skills to develop the ability to tune them out. Good thing the only thing about him that sucked was his luck.

Or maybe it wasn't such a good thing. Naruto and Sakura sitting behind him where he never had to see or speak to them was one thing, and not that surprising. It was odd, but then again teachers had nothing better to do in their spare time rather than think of ways to make the lives of their students that much more miserable; however, Gaara did not like being caught off guard, especially not multiple times.

"And finally, Lee, take the empty seat next to Gaara," said Kakashi, not even batting an eyelash at the dead silence that encased the room. After all, if anyone tried to tango with Gaara they'd end up like Dosu, who currently wandered the streets with all but his eyes covered in bandages. It was doubtful that he would ever return to Sarutobi High. He thought he'd be the first to get under Gaara's skin, being one of the toughest guys in school. Now if he wasn't the laughing stock, he was the center of pity. Yeah, he wasn't coming back.

"Yes, sensei." Lee didn't try to beg for mercy, nor did he hold back. In fact, something even scarier happened. He smiled, scooped up all of his stuff, and headed right for his new seat. Was he trying to win Naruto's title of class idiot or what? This was nothing to smile about. There need not be anymore bloodshed, even of the "accidental" kind.

Lee did not care, though. He sat down next to Gaara as though he were returning home from a long journey. Granted, Lee did like a good challenge, and sitting next to the scariest boy in school (and surviving) was noteworthy; however, it was also risky. He was too young to die.

Gaara could feel those exact thoughts accumulating about him. He never considered himself a terrible person, and Dosu had a history of annoying him in his wake. Annoying him in his sleep must have been where he had crossed the line. Like the screaming incident, he didn't remember the marring, either. In any case, he had no intention of hurting Lee (anymore), so he hoped the class would stop wasting their time trying to assess the situation. His life and the things he chose to do were none of their concern. As long as they left him alone, nothing would go wrong. All he wanted was solitude.

Solitude would be considerably difficult to achieve with no less than two morons and one goody-goody crowding his space, but he would manage somehow. He wanted his sleep.

Since Lee would be there when he woke up there was no need to suffer one of Kakashi's dreadful lectures just to catch him at the end of class.

"Hello Gaara-kun." That was, if Lee valued his well-being, which he obviously didn't. Gaara ignored him, and decided that was probably the nicest thing he could do for Lee at the moment. He needed his sleep, and he would be far more grouchy than usual if he didn't get it. Down his head went, and that was that. He'd propose the idea of a truce with Lee after a well-deserved nap, if only because it would make Temari get off his back.


	3. A Friendship by Chance

LESSON 3

A Friendship by Chance

On the bright side, Gaara did get his sleep. He woke up just in time for lunch as always. The bustle about the room indicated that at least half of his classmates were gone, and this was his cue to get up and have his sandwich on the roof. He always ate up there alone, viewing the city from the rooftop and watching the cars crawl off wherever like rats. He felt somewhat disassociated with the world down below, as though he were the dead amongst the living. Temari would tell him that it was the insomnia talking, and he would tell her to quit her preaching. People who nagged him, especially his sister, were the very worst kinds of people.

Gaara leaned back and cracked his back, yawning inaudibly and rubbing his arms. He was no stranger to the cold, and could feel goose bumps crawling up his arms. Cold was the first thing he felt when he woke up, and the second was irritation. He didn't quite feel like getting up, flowing through groups of people that looked at him as though he were prepared to kill their first borns, and climbing up all those stairs to get to the roof, but it was the only place in the school where he could hide from eyes. After all, where he went people did not follow, and where he stayed was where people left. He was a pure creature of isolation, and that suited him just fine.

"Hey, Gaara! Gaara!" said someone from behind him. He had almost forgotten that he was now literally surrounded by idiots. Well, maybe Lee and Sakura weren't so bad, at least compared to Naruto. That kid was always on him like flies on a turd compared to others (outside of his family, at least.) Apparently he too was an orphan, mooching off his roommate… Uchiha something-or-other. Gaara wasn't one for bonding over sob stories, so he told himself. He wouldn't admit it in over a million years, but he did sort of appreciate Naruto being around.

Just not today, right after he had woken up.

"What do you want, Uzumaki?" said Gaara, trying to will away the fuzzy feeling in his head and the dryness in his mouth. It would take a glass of water to do that, but again Gaara didn't feel like getting up and walking out. He didn't want to face the reproving glances toward him at the moment, especially since they were bound to be more intense than normal. After all, minor as it was, he had had another incident in class. That brought his existence to the attention of others all the time. Upon his arrival he was bound to be bombarded with gossipy whispers of "It's that kid that such-and-such" and little bit of "They say he's possessed by a demon" in regard to his antisocial behavior. Gaara normally didn't care, he really didn't. Today, though, was not one of those days. He couldn't be held accountable for his actions if he had the misfortune of hearing his name trashed further. Those little gossip mongers did have it coming.

"Lee's gone to photocopy his notes for you," said Naruto, and his face scrunched into a tight, albeit wide frown. Not that Gaara was looking at him or anything, but he had heard enough of Naruto's complaints to know that frown always went with them. "This lecture was really hard to follow, man. I felt like sleeping, too."

"Maybe you should have," said Gaara, refusing to turn around and actually look at the Uzumaki kid. After all, that would imply that Gaara was interested in the small talk that Naruto was trying to initiate, which truly he wasn't. "It's not like you're capable of retaining any information."

His stomach was growling and he was only in the mood for his sandwich. Too bad he wasn't willing to endure a few seconds of gossip so he could eat in his favorite spot—ALONE—which was what made it a favorite of his. People were nothing but hunks of fleshy wasted space to him.

"That's cold, Gaara. You sound just like that Sasuke-bastard!" said Naruto. It seemed Gaara had pressed a sore spot, and if he pressed even more he could probably shut Naruto out of his life for good. It didn't sound like such a bad idea actually. The thing was that Gaara didn't generally go looking for trouble. Trouble had the natural tendency of finding him and screwing with his life in ways he didn't want it screwed with. Until Naruto became more than a gnat buzzing in his ear, Gaara wouldn't resort to any extremes. After all, Naruto had been living with his "bastard" roommate for how long? It would obviously take a lot to shake Naruto.

"You must enjoy being in the company of bastards," said Gaara, already having said too much. He was now carrying on a conversation with someone who wasn't related to him, and it was stupid. Never had he felt inclined to goad Naruto on, or respond to more than a couple of his excessive complaints and boasts. Then again, he rarely interacted with Naruto. It was going to become exceedingly harder to avoid with him sitting right behind him.

Why couldn't he just talk with Sakura? Oh, right, apparently she hated Naruto's guts and escaped as fast as she could to meet her friends at lunch. That would explain a few things. If only that Hinata girl would get up the guts to walk over and speak with Naruto. Gaara noticed for several minutes how she'd occasionally sweep her eyes over toward their side of the room, and her cheeks glowed. If Gaara were one to play Cupid, he'd shoo Naruto over to Hinata's side of the room; however, that just didn't fit. Gaara the insomniac, the violent freak, the demon possessed kid, the… matchmaker? If Gaara laughed he would find that kind of funny, but Gaara didn't laugh. He didn't even smile.

What's more he didn't like where this was going, a conversation with Naruto. It was only the first day and the guy was already trying to weasel his way into unwelcome territory. It'd just be his funeral, then. Those who got involved with Sabaku Gaara were bound to have miserable lives.

"What can I say? Bastards take a natural affinity toward me."

If Gaara had to guess, he'd say that Naruto couldn't spell the word "affinity", let alone define it. It must have been a Sasuke word, or something. Gaara had vague glimpses at the guy Naruto lived with, and he found him interesting. He had the same eyes as Gaara, suggesting his life was nothing short of a pile of shit. That'll turn a guy into a bastard, if nothing else. Of course Gaara didn't feel anymore inclined to exchange sob stories with Sasuke anymore than he did Naruto. The only thing that made Sasuke more interesting was that his life, his identity, was shrouded in mystery. He assumed Sasuke also went to this school, but Gaara never saw him. A dropout, maybe?

Curious as Gaara almost was, he wasn't going to bring Sasuke up. In fact, he was going to end this conversation now so to shut his growling stomach up. Gaara pulled his sandwich out of his pack, and just as he was about to unwrap the plastic from it Lee came barreling into the room as though he were being chased by bulls. If that little shock caused Gaara to bite down on his tongue then there would be hell to pay, but luckily it missed. Rock Lee had made him bleed one too many times in this lifetime.

"Gaara-kun, I tried so hard to wake you up, I really did. Kakashi-sensei went through so much, and there is going to be a test, I did not want you to be unprepared so I took lots of notes and made copies for you. I hope you will find these helpful, but my handwriting may be sloppy," said Lee, and it amazed Gaara that he could get all that out in just two breaths. There were no less than eleven pages of notes that Gaara skimmed through for courtesy sakes. He really didn't need them, having gone through and read excerpts from Temari's old text books on boring nights where he couldn't find anything on TV. Most of what Lee wrote was entirely superfluous, as though he had copied every little detail Kakashi went over word-for-word. Though they didn't do him much good, he stuffed the notes away in his pack with a grunt, which is the closest to a "thank you" anyone has ever received from him in a great while.

"Also, I was not sure if you had any food or not, so I bought you a rice ball!" Lee slid the treat into Gaara's hand, much to his surprise. It was strange, receiving kind gestures from one he had acknowledged only yesterday. What's worse was that Gaara had only planned ways of making Lee's life a living hell for what he had done. "I want to apologize for hurting you yesterday. I do not know my own strength sometimes, but surely you know that it was not my intention to harm you in any way. I have nothing against you personally."

"Ah," said Gaara, and he took a small bite of the rice ball. It was as sticky and unappealing as he knew it was going to be, but all the same Lee was trying to make up for his mistake, which was very much his fault. It was his fault for coming after him, his fault for not listening to him, and very much his fault that Temari had cornered him that way she had. Now, it was Gaara's choice, to endure Lee's presence outside of the school environment for just a little while, or move back in with Uncle Baki. Not that Baki himself was the cause of Gaara's distaste for living at his old home, but there were ghosts at the old house that Gaara refused to revisit. He would much rather die.

"C'mon, Bushy-brow. You're stealing my thunder," said Naruto, grabbing Gaara into a headlock, but was elbowed away before his hair could be ruffled, or anything of the sort. Kankurou got away with that once, once, and he never did it again. Gaara was about as affectionate as a forest fire, and twice as likely to burn you if you got too close. Kankurou had the scar to prove it.

Obviously Gaara couldn't propose his request to Lee with Naruto in the vicinity, or else he would insist on coming, too. Temari had met Naruto already, and made it very clear that if he and Sasuke got into another loud fist-fight outside of their apartment door on mid-term week she would kill them with her bare hands. In short, she hated Naruto's guts. Kankurou also didn't like having the words "dick cheese" and "fuck face" written in sharpie on every pair of underwear he owned. Apparently he and Naruto met, got off on the wrong foot, and that prompted mischievous blond to pull a mean prank on his laundry. This was also why Gaara and Naruto were not allowed to be friends. Temari and Kankurou would forbid it, not that Gaara cared or anything.

After his rice ball Gaara found that he was no longer interested in eating his sandwich, so he offered it to Lee. He obviously meant it as an "I'm just going to throw it away otherwise, so you might as well" which Lee took as a "He's being nice! He really is human, despite what the rest of the student body says." Well, no, Lee didn't say that exactly, but it was implied. Lee ate the sandwich in four loud bites, and commented on how good it was each time. It was only turkey and lettuce, but to Lee it was like an orgasm in his mouth. Even Naruto was speechless, and people were staring. Well, for future references Gaara knew never to offer Lee any food. He was generally immune to embarrassment, silly emotion that it was. There was nothing mistakable about the pink twinge of heat Gaara felt across his nose. Maybe Lee was even more immune to embarrassment, so Gaara felt an ounce of it for him.

"Gaara, what the hell's in that sandwich and where can I get some!" said Naruto, clearly impressed with Lee's happy little display. If Gaara were a joker he would tell him it was the meat of the kittens sacrificed to the raccoon god; however, Gaara was not a joker. He was just one of those drifting nobodies who wished everyone would leave him the hell alone.

"Mmm, thank you so much, Gaara-kun. You don't mind if I call you that do you?" asked Lee, as if Gaara were so easy to win over. Naruto leaned in, just to hear a witty bit of rejection. It wasn't that he had anything against the over-browed dork, but Gaara couldn't be bothered with affectionate nicknames that implied friendship. It was just absurd, and Naruto wouldn't have believed Gaara's response if he hadn't heard it with his own two ears.

"Do what you want," said Gaara, resting his face in his arms again. Normally after lunch Gaara zoned out, not quite falling asleep, but letting the rest of the day waste away in a blur. When the next set of lectures was a go he would retain random tidbits of information, while letting his mind wander to other places. He contemplated Lee and the way he was going to get the boy to agree to follow him home today so to satiate Temari's need to see Gaara interacting with humans that weren't, well, her and Kankurou. His original plan was catch Lee at the beginning of lunch period, but he slept too long and thus missed that opportunity. In two more classes the dismissal bell would ring, and he'd have to speak to Lee before they left school grounds.

First thing's first, Naruto couldn't know. Gaara would have to find a way to get him occupied. Was there a way to do that through the people sitting near him? Pissing off Sakura and finding a way to blame it on Naruto was probably his best bet, but how to go about doing that, he wondered.

Delinquent behavior Naruto was famous for were spit balls, paper balls, stink bombs, and graffiti. Now, Gaara himself wasn't so much a delinquent as he was one to just do whatever the fuck it was he felt like. Sleep during class when he'd tired? You beat your ass he will! Beat up a kid whose been asking for it? On multiple occasions his violence had nearly gotten him expelled, but he knew Temari wouldn't tolerate that, so aside from Dosu it's been many years since Gaara laid a finger on anyone, even if they were asking for it. That must have accounted for all the scars and bruises Naruto didn't have especially.

Whatever, Sakura would definitely pick up the slack if she was going to be back there with Naruto the whole year, and she'd get away with it, too. She was well on her way to becoming Sarutobi High's second coming of Sabaku Temari, so nothing she did would dampen her reputation. Brains bought power if you were anyone but Gaara. Somehow sleeping was now a crime that trumped his grades.

He had to focus. Given the strange nature of this day that was easier said than done. Pulling a childish prank on Sakura when he sat right in front of her made no sense. Whatever he did, he had to be discreet.

That was easier said than done. Two periods came and went, and he inconveniently dozed off halfway through the first one. It was a rough day, but he supposed he'd get Temari off his back if he told her Lee was now sitting beside him in class and buying snacks for him. He never lied to her before, though if there were anytime she was inclined to believe he would it would be now. Having physical proof of something that resembled friendship would be the best way to satisfy her, but the possibility of that was growing dim. He'd either have to swallow his pride and endure having Naruto around as well, or he'd have to believe that Temari would take his word for it. Both options were as appealing as road kill, but he had to try.

When the dismissal bell rang Lee gathered all of his notes together and shoved them into his bag. He was a bit flushed, as though he had just run a mile or two. Gaara didn't want to grace the amount of trees Lee killed with the copious amount of note taking with a thought. All he wanted was to get home, but first he had a decision to make: fight, or flight.

Oh, who was he kidding? Was he Sabaku Gaara or was he Sabaku Gaara, the fiercest guy around? There should have been nothing hard about this. He was making this out to be much more than it was, once again caught in the unfamiliar hold of embarrassment. There was nothing embarrassing about this, yet his vocal chords were on lock down. It wasn't right.

Then as though he had read his mind, Lee smiled right down at him and asked, "Would you like to walk home together?"

"No" was the knee-jerk answer that very nearly revived his vocal chords, keyword being nearly. Gaara managed to catch himself through a halfway gaping mouth, which he pressed shut the moment Naruto snorted. Well, what was once temporarily a moment of relief all but died right there, and if Naruto managed to ruin this completely he'd be the next to go.

"Nice try, Bushy-brows, but Gaara does everything alone," said Naruto, as though he knew everything there was to know about his sleep-deprived neighbor. Lee's sunny disposition didn't waver in the slightest with that, obviously leaving the final answer up to Gaara. Before he could so much as grunt, Naruto continued, "I've offered him shotgun in that bastard Sasuke's convertible and he even refused that. I mean what the hell?"

"Sasuke?" said Sakura, for once not using a vile tone of voice toward Naruto. It was all Naruto could do not to stumble and fall over his chair, and even Lee took some interest in this conversation now. "You don't mean… you couldn't. Not Uchiha Sasuke, the one that works at the video store?"

"Huh? Yeah, that bastard works at Fun Flix-wait," said Naruto, his face draining into a sickly pail of blue all of a sudden. "You don't know him, do you?"

"Know him?" said Sakura with a smile. "I not only know him, I love him!"

Now it was Lee's turn to sink into blue. Well, Naruto just made Gaara's walk home a miserable one. Lee's excessive cheerfulness was one thing Gaara had contemplated getting used to, but a depressed Lee? The two didn't seem to belong in the same sentence together. It made Gaara growl under his breath just the slightest bit. Naruto was on ice so thin now it may as well have been air, let alone water. Any conversation that included Uchiha Sasuke was a bad one.

"But how do you know him?" demanded Sakura. Naruto went from being depressed to being scared for his life in the span of two seconds, which was too slow considering that Sakura wasn't the only one plotting his demise.

"He's, err, my roommate. Probably waiting in his car to pick me up right now," said Naruto, perhaps against his better judgment. Normally a girl like Sakura would take this as a blatant lie from a guy who just wanted to corner her. The sad thing was that this wasn't a lie. Sasuke's car was out there every day. If she didn't make a point to ignore Naruto like the plague she would have noticed sooner. Still, this was a golden opportunity to get Naruto off his back, and Gaara found his voice just before Sakura could end this conversation by smashing Naruto's face into his desk.

"He's telling the truth," said Gaara, stopping all of their breaths short momentarily. Naruto must have been the most shocked, clearly trying to ascertain whether Gaara was trying to help him, or ruin him. Neither. The outcome of Naruto's day meant nothing to Gaara. He was merely trying to help himself.

"R-really?" said Sakura, her expression lighting up like fireworks. For a genius Sakura sure was stupid sometimes. Gaara didn't know what it was about Uchiha Sasuke, but that kid was trouble. He was a train wreck confined behind a stoic scowl, not unlike Gaara. One look at him was all it took for Gaara to know that he was not to be tangoed with. The company Naruto drew to himself was sometimes very questionable.

Gaara's plan worked better than he'd hoped. After his intervention all doubt on Sakura's part was cleared, and she dragged Naruto out of the class eager to meet her dark prince. Gaara wasn't so sure he'd done the right thing, encouraging an innocent girl to tread waters she clearly wasn't prepared for, but it didn't matter. How she chose to ruin her life was none of his concern. His only concern was three feet away from him and sulking, which meant only one thing.

"No, Sakura-san," said Lee, his lip trembling. Gaara thought he ought to say something, but thought better of it. What was there to say? Gaara was about as full of romantic advice as he was respect for the public educational system, but still. The dampened mood also dampened his chances with bringing Lee home to meet Temari. What if he wasn't in the mood now?

After a few moments of brooding, Lee shot his palm down on the desk and exclaimed, "No, I won't give up!" The remaining stragglers in the class just kind of stared for a moment; at least until Gaara's harsh eyes cut their scrutiny short. He and Lee were soon the only ones remaining, which was just fine with Gaara. The less people to plow through the better.

"She doesn't stand a chance," said Gaara out of nowhere. Lee's hopeful gaze met his for a fraction of a moment. Something unfamiliar stirred in the pit of Gaara's stomach, something different that he didn't quite know what to name. Whatever that something was, though, it was gone as soon as it arrived, much to Gaara's relief. He enjoyed having complete control of his life down to his every passing thought. Anything but total dominance was unacceptable. He almost denied Lee's offer to walk home with him on a whim again, but decided against it the moment his lips parted.

"Does this Sasuke-kun have a girlfriend already?" said Lee, sounding unsure as to whether or not he should be so relieved, which in turn confused Gaara. Naruto would probably be over the moon if Sakura didn't stand a chance, but he was too stupid to see that.

"How should I know?" said Gaara, his voice dismissive. They had mulled enough over this particular drama more than enough. "Anyway." He crooked his head toward the clock. The bell rang almost ten minutes ago. "We should get out of here."

"You mean you'd like to walk home together?" said Lee, the subject of Sakura seeming to vanish into thin air. Good. Well, good. There were better things to be concerned about.

"Isn't that what I just said?" said Gaara, sliding his feather-light book bag on. Why he still bothered to wear it to school was a mystery to him, too. It wasn't like he ever brought his text books with him. He had an impossible time breaking old habits, except for today. He'd allow this one little inconsistency this one time for his own sake. "Move it, or I'm leaving without you."

"OK!"


End file.
